American, Wife Freed From Venezuelan Prison

Jacqueline Daniels

Speaking to the President on Saturday night, Holt told a group of politicians and family inside the Oval Office it had been a "very very hard two years", and 'not really the great vacation I was looking for'. On one gold couch in the Oval Office sat Holt's family, and on the other couch sat Sen.

He said the administration is working to free other prisoners, including a North Carolina preacher who is imprisoned in Turkey on terrorism charges. Yet Mr Holt's release had seemed unlikely even a week ago. "That was a tough situation". Holt's father also gave his son a grand embrace and while smiling ear to ear, cracked a joke. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) (Miraflores Presidential Press Office via AP) In this photo released by the Miraflores Presidential Press Office, Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro, left, shakes hands with Republican Senator Bob Corker during a meeting at the Miraflores Presidential Palace in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday May 25, 2018.

RIVERTON- Josh and Thamy Holt have arrived home in Utah, where they were welcomed at Salt Lake City International Airport around 7 p.m. tonight.

The Utah man's mother, Laurie Holt, thanked Trump and the lawmakers for her son's safe return, adding: "I also want to say thank you to President Maduro for releasing Josh and letting him to come home".

Standing nearby were his parents, celebrating a homecoming they'd worked tirelessly to bring about. "It really touches me", he said, his voice breaking.

A former Mormon missionary, Holt had been looking to connect with a Spanish speaker to practice the language, reports NBCnews.com, when he met Candelo, also a Mormon, online. The couple has denied the charge of concealing weapons.

In a Facebook video, Holt said, "I'm calling on the people of America: I need your help to get me out of this place". "You better really live a good life", Hatch told Holt at the White House, drawing chuckles from Holt's family and others. "They say they're doing things, but I'm still here". How long do I have to suffer here?

But US officials immediately quashed any suggestion that the punitive sanctions against Venezuela would be eased after the release of Joshua Holt and his wife Thamara Caleno. Venezuela contended Holt was a spy involved in trying to destabilize the country.

Corker said that when Lacava traveled to Washington in March the possibility of the nephews' release was discussed, as well as some sort of sanctions relief at a time Trump was threatening an oil embargo on the OPEC nation.

Maduro won a second six-year term in office May 20 in an election that the US and other countries have described as a "sham" after several rivals were prohibited from running.

Until Trump's tweet on Saturday, the USA had stopped short of publicly calling Holt a "hostage".

Corker on Friday met personally with President Nicola Maduro. The family of Joshua Holt, who was recently released from a prison in Venezuela, father Jason Ho.

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